This invention relates to an elevated accommodation assembly and is especially, but not exclusively, related to such an assembly for providing temporary accommodation, such as an outside broadcast studio, in a working environment of limited space.
In service areas associated with, say, sports events, the space available is usually extremely limited, in view of the ever increasing volume of accommodation and equipment required to provide outside broadcast coverage of such events. This is particularly so in motor racing, especially Formula 1, wherein so-called xe2x80x9cpaddocksxe2x80x9d, which provide service areas at motor racing venues, have become extremely cramped in view of the increasing public demand for outside broadcast coverage of motor racing events over the past several years.
One method of overcoming this serious lack of space in service areas, such as those discussed above, has been to erect or otherwise provide temporary units, such as studios and other types of allied accommodation and equipment storage space, which may be supported in elevated positions upon scaffolding, one above the other, on a temporary basis. However, that has been found to be unsatisfactory, in that the vehicles assembly and disassembly of the supporting scaffolding is very labour intensive and, thus, expensive. Also, the assembled scaffolding is cumbersome and unsightly.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an elevated accommodation assembly which eliminates, or at least substantially reduces, the disadvantages associated with providing temporary accommodation in, say, a service area of limited space, as discussed above.
Thus, a first aspect of the invention provides an accommodation assembly comprising a plurality of support legs erectable to upstand from ground level, structural elements erectable into an accommodation structure, and means arranged to cause the accommodation structure, when erected, to self-climb the erected support legs from ground level to an elevation thereabove.
With such an inventive assembly, when the support legs are erected to upstand, preferably generally vertically, from ground level, the accommodation structure can be erected from its structural elements, for example, respective floor, wall and/or roof elements, at ground level in conjunction with the erected support legs and then caused to self-climb those legs to a desired elevation above ground level, preferably at the top of the legs.
For an accommodation structure having a floor element of generally rectangular shape, it is preferred to employ four erectable support legs, to provide a vertical support leg at each corner of the accommodation structure. However, any suitable number of support legs may be employed, depending upon the required strength and stability of the accommodation assembly when the accommodation structure is at a desired elevation above ground level.
Throughout this specification, the term xe2x80x9cself-climbxe2x80x9d, or derivative thereof, such as xe2x80x9cself-climbingxe2x80x9d, is used in relation to the ability of the accommodation structure, when erected, to raise itself up the erected support legs without the assistance of any extraneous raising or lifting means additional to the components of the inventive assembly.
The means arranged to cause the erected accommodation structure to self-climb the erected support legs, may be of any suitable form. In the preferred embodiment of accommodation assembly to be described in greater detail hereinbelow, such self-climbing means comprises an electric hoist associated with each support leg, for example at each corner of a generally rectangular accommodation structure, each hoist having an electric motor fixed to the structure and one or more flexible elongate members, such as chains, connected operably to the electric motor and extending up the associated support legs, preferably outside the leg, and over pulleys, preferably two, located at the top of the support leg, to provide a so-called xe2x80x9croller beamxe2x80x9d. Such chains are preferably double-reaved with respect to the electric motor and the roller beam, such that the load exerted upon the support leg, when being self-climbed by the erected accommodation structure, is distributed substantially evenly on both sides of the leg.
Alternatively, such self-climbing means associated with each erected support leg, may be fixed at the top or base thereof and operably connected to the erected accommodation structure, preferably a structural floor element thereof, by a chain(s) of suitable strength.
Once the accommodation structure has self-climbed the support legs to the desired elevation above ground level, it can then be secured firmly to each support leg preferably at the top thereof.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of erecting an accommodation structure at an elevation above ground level, which method comprises erecting a plurality of support legs upstanding from ground level, erecting an accommodation structure at the bases of the upstanding support legs and causing the so-erected accommodation structure to self-climb the legs to a desired elevation above ground level.
In a preferred inventive method of erecting an elevated accommodation structure in accordance with the invention, a floor element of the accommodation structure is first mounted upon a base leg member of each support leg to which is pivotally attached a main leg member in its lower, generally horizontal position. Then, those main leg members are pivoted upwardly with respect to their base leg members, to provide a corresponding number of generally vertical support legs. A roof element of the accommodation structure is then erected such that it is supported above the floor element by means of wall elements secured therebetween. At this stage, the accommodation structure is substantially fully assembled at the bases of the vertical support legs. Subsequently, the accommodation structure is caused to self-climb the vertical support legs upon which it is mounted, to the desired elevation above ground level, as discussed above in relation to the first aspect of the invention.
In this preferred embodiment, the wall elements of the accommodation structure comprise upstanding elongate structural elements secured between the floor and roof elements which also comprise elongate structural elements. In this condition, the accommodation structure is in the form of a framework which may be suitably clad to provide substantially closed accommodation at the desired elevation above ground. Alternatively, such cladding can be carried out prior to the erected accommodation structure being caused to self-climb the generally vertical support legs.
When the accommodation structure has self-climbed the vertical support legs and is at its desired elevation above ground level, a space may be provided between the underside of the floor element of the accommodation structure and the ground, which may be used for any practical purpose, such as the parking of an associated vehicle, such as an outside broadcast trailer.
Two or more (plurality) accommodation structures may be used, to provide a multi-storey accommodation assembly.
In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a preferred embodiment of accommodation assembly for providing temporary accommodation, such as an outside broadcast studio, and a method of erecting an accommodation structure, will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: